Hunters

[Monkeyleg]

I shot a few crows when I was a kid, but that's it. I'm not a hunter.

[charby]

That's what friends are for.

They have decoys also mums the word

[RoadKingLarry]

My available private land has dwindled to about zilch. The public land around me is over hunted and over crowded with less than optimal types. I will go after small game on the public and off season from deer hunting but that's about it. When I feel the need to put some venison in the freezer I can set up on the back of my place and having a shot at a good doe is almost a certainty, not that that means I always manage it.
I consider myself a casual hunter these days.

[Stetson]

I hunt to eat.  That's all I've ever done.  When I really need it I have friends with plenty of acreage that will let me hunt there.

I didn't hunt this year due to the medical stuff but I got 2 deer and an elk last year so there is still meat.

[Perd Hapley]

Actually hunters are us, most just don't realize it or want to admit it.  I hunt but not as much as I want.

I was just jokin', man.

[vaskidmark]

Except for a summer shooting crows for the bounty -- well, now that I think about it crows also have only two feet.  But they were the only ones with a bounty on them.

I have several friends who hunt, and until a few years ago when it became too physically challenging I would go out with them, but not armed.  I used to be able to dress game with the best of them.  I do still enjoy the fruits of their hunting.

stay safe.

[Nick1911]

Nope, don't hunt.  I don't deal well with the whole gutting process.

[Northwoods]

Nope, don't hunt.  I don't deal well with the whole gutting process.

Doesn't bother me at all.  One advantage to having a poor sense of smell, at least for certain things.  I can never trust my nose to tell me if meat has spoiled, or even milk, at least not until it's pretty far gone.  Bleach has to be pretty strong for me to notice it.  That said, I can smell amonia very well.

Actual conversation while helping gut a yearling elk my buddy shot through the liver:

Hunting buddy: Is that horrid smell because I hit it in the gut?

Hunting buddy's dad: Yep.  cough

Me:  Huh?  I don't smell anything.

[Nick1911]

Doesn't bother me at all.  One advantage to having a poor sense of smell, at least for certain things.  I can never trust my nose to tell me if meat has spoiled, or even milk, at least not until it's pretty far gone.  Bleach has to be pretty strong for me to notice it.  That said, I can smell amonia very well.

Actual conversation while helping gut a yearling elk my buddy shot through the liver:

Hunting buddy: Is that horrid smell because I hit it in the gut?

Hunting buddy's dad: Yep.  cough

Me:  Huh?  I don't smell anything.

That's funny, I also have a very poor sense of smell.  My problem is a visual thing - I pass out trying to do that kind of work, or even seeing it done.  Always have, no clue why.

[charby]

Nope, don't hunt.  I don't deal well with the whole gutting process.

Not my favorite part either, I have offered a fellow hunter an Andrew Jackson to field dress the animal for me. I'm not concerned about seeing or touching the guts, I can't stand the smell of ruminent guts. When I bow hunt and the wind is right I can smell the deer coming most the time before I see them.

Unfortuately my fellow hunter wouldn't field dress my deer for $20.

[BobR]

I used to hunt, as in birds and some ungulates.

Now I tend to spend more time in the pursuit of searching for and killing of a couple of specific members of the canine family. Although I have yet to kill a wolf, I guess that will count as hunting, as I plan on ripping out the backstraps and grilling them up.

bob

[cordex]

I'm a shooter who hunts from time to time, not the other way around.

The numbers of gun-owners who don't hunt versus the ones that do are probably spot-on, but it fails to take into consideration that most gun owners rarely shoot as it is - sometimes not firing a gun for decades.

[Jamisjockey]

I haven't done much hunting in years, FWIW.  In my youth I hunted dove, rabbits, quail and yotes.  As an adult, I haven't had much of a chance. I went with mtnbkr but only had a shot on the most dangerous game...Mexicans!


When I hunt now, I can decide whether my 'kill' lives or dies.

[Tallpine]

My available private land has dwindled to about zilch. The public land around me is over hunted and over crowded with less than optimal types. I will go after small game on the public and off season from deer hunting but that's about it. When I feel the need to put some venison in the freezer I can set up on the back of my place and having a shot at a good doe is almost a certainty, not that that means I always manage it.
I consider myself a casual hunter these days.

I only hunt on my own land, or sometimes on a neighbor's place if I have permission.

It just isn't worth the price of gas to drive somewhere to shoot meat, not to mention being out in the woods with a bunch of city yahoos. :(

This past season we had deer everywhere on the days when I had to work, then when I took time off at thanksgiving to actually hunt, there wasn't a deer to be seen. 


The gutting process isn't that big a deal.  It's more back breaking work to me than anything (the leaning over).  I'm pretty squeamish, but once I get started then it's just a job to finish.

[HankB]

I enjoy hunting, but in TX most hunting is on leased land, and between the time and lease cost I haven't hunted for quite a while.     (Or as I told a colleague . . . "it's much too long since I've taken a life."      )

I've very glad I hunted Africa when I did - job demands, political instability, and escalating co$t would keep me from making those kinds of trips now.

[SteveS]

Hunting is something that circumstance never offered, and ignorance did nothing to relieve that shortcoming.

It is, however, on my bucket list.

I just need to find someone who's willing to serve as guide to a guy who isn't as fit as he once was, and has only willingness to learn where experience ought to be.

If you ever want to come to Michigan, I would be happy to take you out.  I am, by no means, a professional guide and I can't make any guarantees, but I am occasionally successful.

I still hunt and hunting is what got me into firearms.  I will confess to having "fudd" attitudes for a brief period, but once I got into handguns, those rapidly disappeared.  Personally, most of the gun people I know are not into hunting.  FWIW, most of the hunters I know are interested in guns for other things, mostly self-defense, so I never hear the "who needs a _______ for hunting."

[Northwoods]

If you ever want to come to Michigan, I would be happy to take you out.  I am, by no means, a professional guide and I can't make any guarantees, but I am occasionally successful.

Same here, but substitute Washington State for MI.

[Tallpine]

AG, you can come sit on my deck and hunt coyotes over live chicken bait 

No license required 

[AZRedhawk44]

Does it count if all you've bagged are rabbits and quail?

I've yet to have a combination of:
1. A large game tag
2. The species the tag is for
3. Seeing that species inside of the allowed 1 week in the year to take it.

Set me free in the wild without a tag, and I'll come across javelina, deer, elk and all sorts of good critters.  Just not when I have blessing and permission from the King's Game Wardens to take them.

[White Horseradish]

I started deer hunting the year before the last. I'm not very good at it, haven't got one yet. Spent some quality time in the woods and had the best nap of my  life, though.

[zahc]

I had to answer 'No' because I haven't been hunting in years. I used to, back when I had access to land.

[dm1333]

SteveS,

Where in Michigan are you?  I'm transferring to Muskegon, MI this August.

[charby]

Does it count if all you've bagged are rabbits and quail?

I've yet to have a combination of:
1. A large game tag
2. The species the tag is for
3. Seeing that species inside of the allowed 1 week in the year to take it.

Set me free in the wild without a tag, and I'll come across javelina, deer, elk and all sorts of good critters.  Just not when I have blessing and permission from the King's Game Wardens to take them.

Try another state. WY for Antelope, Utah for Mule Deer, KS or MO for whitetail and CO for Elk. I'm going to WY in Oct for Antelope and Mule Deer. Also aren't bobcats varmit in AZ? I'd love to have a couple cat hides for the man cave.

[RoadKingLarry]

Nope, don't hunt.  I don't deal well with the whole gutting process.

Hell man, that's the best part.

[RoadKingLarry]

I haven't done much hunting in years, FWIW.  In my youth I hunted dove, rabbits, quail and yotes.  As an adult, I haven't had much of a chance. I went with mtnbkr but only had a shot on the most dangerous game...Mexicans!


When I hunt now, I can decide whether my 'kill' lives or dies.

I've always subscribed to the fillet and release method.